Nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (N-OMCs) were prepared via a two-step approach, using resorcinol (R) and formaldehyde (F) as the carbon precursor and dicyandiamide (DCD) as the nitrogen precursor. In this approach, dicyandiamide, formaldehyde and resorcinol were pre-polymerized in the first step using a basic catalyst to produce DCD-RF resol. The DCD-RF resol was mixed with a solution of triblock copolymer Pluronic P127 followed by the addition of an acid catalyst to facilitate the self-assembly and condensation in the second step. After calcination, N-OMCs were obtained and further characterized by nitrogen sorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The well-prepared N-OMCs were evaluated for the catalytic dehydrochlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane and exhibited superior catalytic performances and excellent stability over 72 h. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.